Chain of Command
by HeartlandTower
Summary: Vector didn't anticipate Mr. Heartland's Barian form being so powerful. Don Thousand uses it as an opportunity to teach Vector his place. Vector/Heartland, gem sex, noncon, physical abuse.


It was impossible to tell just what one's new Barian body would look like, once you were reborn from the powers of Chaos into Barian World. You almost always would retain some features from your former life, but sometimes the changes would be drastic and unexpected. It took a lot to surprise Vector these days, but Mr. Heartland's first Bariarphose caught him completely off guard.

He had half expected Heartland's Barian form to be that of a fly – the temporary form granted to him by Don Thousand following his revival. The first transformation was often involuntary, caused by an overload when a human body was first introduced to the high energy dimension Barian World resided in. When the change overtook Mr. Heartland for the first time since receiving his human body back he'd grasped his head in his hands, keening.

It was one of the most dramatic changes Vector had seen. As a Barian Mr. Heartland was massive, towering well over the emperor. He'd retained his mouth – uncommon but not unheard of – but stranger still were the bulbous elongations of his head and lower body, giving him a distinctly insectile appearance. His body was thick and muscular, armor-like plates jutting from his shoulders and hips and gauntlets across both arms. Several segmented, unblinking eyes rolled in random directions at the center of Heartland's torso and massive spined wings curled around him where he stood.

"This body… it's so… _gauche!_" Heartland wailed, as if the world were ending. He seemed genuinely distraught over his new appearance, running his claws across the curve of his chest.

Vector managed to collect himself and set his hands on his hips, cocking his head at the former mayor. "Be glad I gave you _any_ body, you little—"

They both came to the same realization at the exact same time. He was cut off midsentence as Heartland's expression changed: a smirk had spread out across his angular face, showing almost every one of his needle-like teeth. There was an imperceptible shift, a tipping of power. Heartland was bigger, he was stronger, and perhaps he would no longer settle for being second-in-command.

Everything happened quickly. Heartland had rushed at Vector with a speed betrayed by his massive size; the emperor was blindsided and he heard rather than felt the cracks form through his crystalline body as he hit the ground. Heartland was on top of him, teeth bared as he straddled the much smaller Barian, forcing him down with little more than his body weight. Their bodies ground together with the sound of rocks scraping together; despite the bulbous, fleshy appearance of Heartland's thorax he was just as crystalline in structure as any other Barian. The mayor laid one massive forearm across Vector's chest, pinning him to the ground and inadvertently applying pressure to the large central gem positioned there. The emperor moaned as the sensation overstimulated him, and Heartland's expression shifted from predatory to shock, then slowly to curiosity.

"What's this? The great Lord Vector has a soft spot?" he questioned softly, the eyes along his abdomen twisting to look at the prey beneath him.

Vector hissed and narrowed his eyes, refusing to show any weakness. "Like hell," he growled, but subconsciously he was weighing his options. He noticed Heartland didn't have any visible gems on his body, those sensitive points through which Barians absorbed their energy. Maybe he didn't need one as he had a mouth. Either way, with the sensitive area exposed Mr. Heartland was taking advantage of the situation, stroking his claws around the edge of the gem on Vector's chest. The sensation was almost too much for him to bear.

_Why the hell won't you help?!_ Vector thought, suddenly frustrated that Don Thousand wouldn't help him overthrow this insect, this _fly_. But he was silent as Heartland's claws stroked at the gem, sending sparks of pain and pleasure through Vector's body. He could feel the mayor probing into his mind, the kind of intimate closeness only Barians could feel with each other. He realized he didn't want his mind laid bare to Mr. Heartland.

"I think a change in command is in order. Wouldn't you agree, _Lord_ Vector?" Heartland asked, the mocking tone thick in his words. He was leaning over the emperor now, his mouth opened and his tongue snaked out, slowly flicking around the rim of the gem before licking it outright, his gaze flitting up towards Vector as he did it. The sensation was intense; it was more than Vector had ever felt before and he was overcome. He wanted to beat Heartland off him but he also didn't want him to stop. His tongue slid across the slick, polished surface and Vector tensed, his back arched and he couldn't stop, he _couldn't stop…_

In that instant he truly _felt_ Heartland, sensed him all around him, _inside_ him somehow, and then Don Thousand had taken over, his surrender gave way to the warm embrace of the Barian god, filling him with a renewed sense of power. Vector's legs curled up and shot into Heartland's thorax, throwing him off as if he weighed nothing. Reddish black energy surged through Vector's body and his pleasure transformed into hatred for the creature the mayor had reduced him to. As he righted himself Vector's hand shot out, burning as if it had been set fire, and Heartland started to writhe and moan where he'd been thrown.

He was weak, pathetic. Those thoughts were Don Thousand's, but he and Vector were one and the same in that moment. He regarded Heartland with disgust, his whole body still thrumming with an exhausting pleasure from the stimulation of his gem before he straddled the huge Barian at the waist. His hands wrapped around Heartland's throat and squeezed down; a strength that was not his own infused his limbs and he began to strangle the Barian.

Just as quickly as it had happened, Heartland's form reverted back and he was left as a human. Vector was not lucid enough to realize it had likely been Don Thousand responsible for the reversal, in the moment he was only aware of an intense desire to kill the man, for exposing him in such a moment of weakness. His eyes wide with anger and hatred, he felt Heartland's Barian body become soft and yielding – the weak body of a human – and his fingers dug into the man's neck. Heartland's eyes were filled with nothing but terror as Vector overpowered him and he struggled for breath.

"I'll squash you like the little _bug_ you are!" Vector spat, bloodlust coursing through his veins.

Without warning the strength left Vector. It ebbed out through his tensed muscles as quickly as it had come, freeing Heartland from his grip; he was confused but the mayor took it as an act of mercy. Coughing and gasping for air, he flinched from the emperor, his body trembling.

"Y-yes Lord Vector! Never a-a-again..!"

It was Don Thousand. He gave Vector his power, he could also take it away. Was this a test of his loyalty? Did he set an example as to who was in control in their relationship? The message rang loud and clear with Vector and, still shuddering from the stimulation to his gem, he backed off of Mr. Heartland, letting the man retreat to lick his wounds. It was a lesson for the mayor as well, to remember who was in charge, but also had served to put Vector in his place, slave to the god within him.

Don Thousand said nothing to him within his mind, but it was a lesson Vector would never forget.


End file.
